Ice Age: Return of the Hum4ns
by Nera789
Summary: An alternative fourth. Buck must travel to the surface world to bring Vanessa, another weasel, home. On his way, he finds the gang in trouble, and Manny's family in danger.
1. Chapter 1: Vanessa

Scrat scurried along, sniffing the ground for the sweet scent of the ominous acorn that he could never seem to get a hold of. Every sense of his was glued to the ground, hoping and praying to find a acorn, maybe not the same one as before, but nonetheless, an acorn. He found himself strayed, with no rocks, no glaciers, no nothing but the sparkling snow beneath his feet and ground surrounding him. He looked down at the ground out of curiousity, and swiped away the snow. It was just a sheet of ice...

a cracking sheet of ice.

He broke through, and decended into the dinosaur world once again. He landed on a brown figure that happened to be passing through at the time. Scrat looked up, with his blurred vision returning to normal. He only saw one eye looking back at him. The other was covered by a leaf. Buck staggered up, resting his head in one hand, and the other offering a hand up to Scrat. He cautiously accepted it; eyeing the white tooth-knife exposed on his back.

"Eye, mate, I won't hurt ya, this is fer' dinos, see?" He pulled it off his back, held by the scabbard strung on by a vine-rope strapped across his shoulder to under his arm.

"You oka-" Buck's ears perked up, hearing roars off in the distance. They were causing a commotion like when the herd had stumbled upon them.

"Not again..." Buck huffed, annoyed, running off, ignoring Scrat.

Buck swang in on the animal being closed in by the group of dinosaurs, and safely returned it to safe ground. Without looking, he started to walk off.

"Thank you." A feminine voice said behind him, shocked. Buck turned around and saw a build much like his own, and blue eyes, even like his own, but a feminine body, and jet black fur. Everything that would have been brown on him, is black on her. She had a very refined feminine face, and her blue eyes blazed against her gentle black fur.

"Erm..Hello." Buck replied, astonished. He hadn't not seen another mammal in the dinosaur world since the herd last came, much less another weasel. Buck scrambled for words, spewing out the first thing that came to his mind..._bad idea_...

"Whoa!" Buck flinched back, affecting her with a chain reaction."Um...sorry...Whats' your name...how'd you get down here?"

"Vanessa...and I fell through."

"Hows that possible?Caves' closed up, an' if you fell that far you'd be dead."

"I guess I was lucky,then. I fell on a dinosaur, which flew down towards the ground, and I jumped when it got closest to the ground...whats that?"

Vanessa points to Buck's tooth-knife.

"Ah, its a long story."

"How did you...if you don't mind me asking-"

"My eye? Ay, goes along with the story of how I got my knife."

"Could I look at it? The knife?"

Buck gave the tooth to her, and she examined it. She flipped it over once or twice and went to hand it back to him. In the process, she dropped the tip right on his foot.

"Fer' the love of!-" He moaned, but tried to slightly retain his pain.

"Oh, gosh! I'm so sorry! Here let me help..."

"No, no, I got this. Don't worry me' love, I'm fine."

Vanessa wondered for a moment, trying to remember his name.

"Buck."

"Well, Buck, I was a nurse before for a little while..I can help."

"Too bad you can't prevent the accidents from happening as _well_ as treat them."

Vanessa smiles and rolls her eyes.

Buck leads Vanessa to his home, so she could treat the wound properly. While Vanessa left to get herbs to treat his foot, and to wrap it in, Buck's eyes wander over to his Pineapple sitting next to a nearby tree. He casually whistles and gently pushes it off into the bush with his injured foot. He gently slides down the tree to sit.

"Here." Vanessa reappeared with different colored herbs, a large leave, a stick, a piece of bark, and what looked like a leaf 'bag' of what seemed to be carrying liquid shut by a small vine. She sat on the ground, dividing up the ingredients and tools.

"Watcha' got ther' mate?"

"Its a few different herbs..see,"She picked up a flower with five white petals, and a yellow center and showed it to him. "This is called Yarrow. It actually has been used for a long time to stop the bleeding, and disinfect the wound..."

"I see..."

"This is Speedwell, amd Chickweed. It should sooth the cut and the Speedwell will help with the healing." She picked up a small plant with a single purple flower on it, along with a small white flowered plant. She began mashing the Yarrow with the stick on the bark.

"This might sting a little." She gently pressed the substance on and around the affected area.

"A LITTLE!" As the intensity of the sting retreated, Vanessa mashed the speedwell and chickweed together and spread that acrossed it aswell.

"So tell me Buck...why are you down here? At least, why haven't you came back up, or..can't you?" The last three words were not forced, but anticipated as she grabbed the bag and leaf to wrap around his foot. "This is tea tree oil, this should also help."She carefully poured the liquid into his cast, and let it set for a moment as the excess oil seeped out.

"I had a chance to go back up...but my place is down here. I don't think I could fit in up there, anymore."

"_**A**_ chance? Just one?"

"I had never really considered going back up, until the chance came along."

"What happened?" Vanessa continued to fumble with the cast as he replied.

"A really...strange herd of animals were lost looking for a friend, and I helped them. They offered me to come with them, but I decided to stay down here."

"A herd? of what?"

"Three mammoths, a sabertooth tiger, two possums, and a sloth."

"Your joking."

"I'm not, thats the crazy part."

"Interesting...so why didn't you go?"

"It has to do with the long story I told you about earlier."

"At least give me some information on it so I understand."

"Well, me and a dinosaur have been enemies for a long while. I thought he was killed...but it turned out he wasn't. So I stayed."

"Thats a little strange...why would you stay where your enemy is?"

"Its complicated...Well...Regardless, I think I'm gunna have to go up to the surface soon now."

"Why?"

"_You're_ not gunna survive trying to go back up. Besides, maybe I'll catch up with a few friends."

"Maybe."

"Problem is, mate, if I'm readin' the sun right, dusk ain't to far off. This place in't a place ta be travelin' at night. We'll go in the morning."

"Ok...that'd be good for your foot, too."

Vanessa fixed a bed for herself made of jungle leaves as Buck plucked a large leaf aswell from behind him, folded it into a pillow, and rested it behind his head. Buck watched her as she slowly began to closed her sparkling blue eyes as he too, began to drift. As the world lost all of its color, and his conciousness began to fade, Buck smirked, and whispered soflty,

"Blimey..."

He woke up in a fog to a sweet auroma. He moaned as he favored his head that had been resting against a tree and leaf throughout the night.

"You've been out for a while. I've made breakfast. Do you like eggs? I made some pineapple too."

"Ughh...my head...wait...what? What're you making?" Buck finally gained conciousness.

"Pineapple and some...really big eggs." Buck's blurred vision returned to normal as he saw and heard the fire crackling. He caught eye of the husk of the pineapple laying aside the fire. He attempted to get up quickly, but tripped and fell, forgetting about his lame foot. He slowly pulled himself back up, taking the butt-end of the knife in his palm and bracing it against himself like a crutch and walked over to the bush he had kicked his pineapple into.

It was gone.

"Yea, I found this Pineapple just in a bush...isn't that lucky? I didn't even need to walk very far."

"Um..I...uh..Vanessa...I'm..." Buck struggled to find the right words without hurting her feelings, and so she wouldn't think he was crazy. She was bound to find out sooner or later, but he was willing to stretch it out as long as he could. He needed more time.

"You don't need to thank me. After all, I was the one that stabbed your foot, its the least I can do."

"Its...ok...Vanessa. But I'm, uh,...allergic..ta pineapples.." Buck started to feel sick to his stomach.

"Oh...sorry...Can you still have some egg then? Even I know how long its gunna take us..."

"Why not...wait...where did you get those eggs from?"

"Some nest I found..don't worry, it looked abandoned."

"I don't think it'd be abandoned if there were fresh eggs in it, mate."

"Well...um...uh oh..." Vanessa's innocent joyful expression melted into a serious, fearful face.

"I think it'll be ok, though. The Pterodactyl's sense of smell ain't too good. It'd be hard fer it to track you."

"You sure know a lot about this place." Vanessa examined with curiousity.

"When ya've been here as long as I have...ya kinda have to know what your going up against. I'm probably one of the smallest animals around here..and one of the very seldom mammals."

"Interesting..."

A loud roar in the distance made them both flinch back.

"Though...Tyrannosaurus Rex...has a very well developed sense of smell..." Buck trailed off. He looked at Vanessa, who dropped her last bit of egg.

"We better get moving."


	2. Chapter 2: Birthday

**Chapter 2**

"Hey Diego...I wonder how our little guy is doing." Sid asked as he attempted to sculpt a snow-mammoth.

"What do you mean? Who?"

"You know, the kid we saved. I wonder how hes doing."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Just wondering...I wonder if he remembers us." Sid casuallly picked up the fallen bit of the sculpture that had broken off.

"Sid, he was just a little kid, not even a kid, a baby. I don't think he'd remember us. Maybe his father-" Diego tensed, disguisted. "But probably not the boy."

"Hey guys, what're you doing?" Elle smoothly walked over to Sid and Diego, curious.

"Oh, nothing! nothing at all! Hey, where's Peaches?" Sid and Diego stood infront of the sculpture, hoping Ellie wouldn't see it.

"Oh, shes with her father. He decided to take her to go see the other kids for her birthday. Though I don't think they'll get much of a chance to see her, Manny is so overprotective, these days."

"Oh, um...uh...wheres' Crash and Eddie?"

"They went with Manny and Peaches...Hey, whats that, behind you?"

"Its a surprise, for Peaches."

"Aww...well I won't intrude, then. I need to go pick out something for her too, anyway." Ellie waved her trunk goodbye to Diego and Sid, and casually walked off.

"Feeew!" They sigh, and continue to work on their project.

"Ok, so remember Peaches, if any of the kids start to scare you, tell Daddy, ok?" as Manny protectively guarded Peaches next to him, waiting for her to look up.

"Not that you'd be able to tell me but, just, I don't know, do what ever babys do when they're scared...cry." Peaches walked with Manny happily by his side, content in watching her surroundings.

"Ok, Peaches...almost there-..." Peaches yelled out a high pitched laugh and charged towards the playground where all the other kids were playing.

"Peaches!" Manny chased the go-lucky baby mammoth to the playground, trying to settle her down.

"Peaches, be careful!" Peaches ran up the teeter-toter and it dropped hard on the other side. Peaches ran off that, and started playing with the snowballs on the trees that slopped off onto the ground, leaving the branches 'unsafe'.

"Peaches!" Manny carefully stepped over the kids, and reached Peaches. He slid her away from the unprotected tree, packed the snow back up, and carefully slid the balls onto each twig. She makes her way to the swing, where little Johnny is happily swinging. Peaches knocks him out of seat and heads toward her ice wind chime.

"Hey..." Johnny weeps, momentarily.

"Sorry, hey, Peaches, stay away from that!" Manny caught her right before she disturbed the glistening chimes that shined in the sun. He examines the chime that hung at the bottom, the only one with a different color. It had been a year since the gang had seen Buck. Manny turned away from it, and found Peaches playing 'Peakaboo' with Crash and Eddie.

"Alright, guys...Ellies' probably wondering where we are. We better go."

"Ok, come on, Peaches."

"You can't catch me!" Crash yells back, encouraging her to follow them.

"My foot is starting to feel a little better." Buck smiled, putting more weight on his foot to test it.

"I would hope so, its not like it went completely through your foot.".

"That doesn't change the fact that it really hurts, Mate."

"Well, I thought-" Vanessa was cut off.

"Wait"

"Whats wrong?" Vanessa asked, staying behind Buck.

"We're in Raptor territory."

"Thats...Bad...isn't it?"

"Considering the fact that they're carnivores, and we're a bit smaller than they are...Oh,and that they hunt in packs..."

"Yea..Kinda bad..."

"It shouldn't be a problem!"

"Excuse me?"

Just then three velociraptors jumped out into the clearing, and started to advance onto their prey. Buck pulled off his vine-rope, tied it into a lasso and started swinging it around his head as Vanessa watched from behind, trembling. Buck smirked, and one of the raptors jumped at him. he lassoed it around its muzzle, and he swang onto its back. He threw the back end of the dino and its tail knocked the other two dinos out. Leaving them on the ground, unconcious. He still struggled to keep his raptor under control, as it continued to jerk left and right.

"Buck! Are you ok?" Vanessa cried out, leery of the unconcious reptiles splayed on the ground.

"No problem-Miss! I do this-all the time! No need-to worry!" The immediate jerks left Buck's voice choppy.

"Be careful!..." Vanessa whispers, frantic. Buck flipped onto the raptors head, flexes his wrist with his knife, and hit it directly in the temple with the butt-end of the knife. He jumped off as it fell, landing infront of Vanessa. Pleased with himself.

"Ready, Mate?"

"Your impossible!" Vanessa squeaks, with a hint of laughter, and nervousness.

Buck walks passed her triumphantly. Vanessa's eyes follow than began to follow behind him as she let out a big sigh.

Hello, Manny! Hi sweetie, how was the park?" Ellie asks, as Manny, Peaches, and the possum twins walk up. The possums mirror eachother and jump from Manny's back, to Ellie's tusks. Peaches squeaked a high pitched laughter, throwing herself at Ellie for a hug, and interlock trunks.

"Diego and Sid are making Peaches a you-know-what."

"A what?"

"You know.."Ellie clears her throat, and hints at Peaches.

"Oh, a P-r-e-s-e-n-t...I'll have to check it out first."

"Manny, I doubt it'll be even remotely dangerous. This is Sid we're talking about."

"Your right...More the reason for me to check it!"

"Manny..."

"Awww...Hi Peaches!" Sid broke in, running up with Diego not too far behind him, walking.

Guess what? We have a suprise for you!" Peaches jumped up and down, letting out little bits of laughter.

"C'mon, we'll show you-"

"Sid." Manny intrudes.

"Aww Manny, we've gotta let her see it at some point..."

"Manny...just let Diego and Sid give it to her." Ellie points out.

"Ok, ok. Fine."

"Yes!" Sid runs with peaches not to far behind him, and Manny and the rest of the gang not too far behind her.

"So, Manny, what did you get her?" Diego asks.

"You've seen it."

Sid walked up to his sculpture, and just as everyone gets there, he stands aside revealing a perfect sculpture of Peaches.

"Diego helped...hehe...a lot..."

Peaches walked up to it, curious. She circled it and examined it from every corner, smiling.

"Ok, Peaches...now your present from Mommy!" Ellie reached into the tuff on her head, and pulled out a ice-headband that was shaped into a flower ontop. Peaches laughed happily and started spinning in circles.

"Alright Peaches.. now your present from Daddy." Manny says softly, as he reached into the massive locks of hair on the top of his head. He pulled out the fragile necklace given to him so long ago. Memories flushed back into his head of the little boy that he had seen so long ago.

"This necklace, Peaches..is very important to me. I'm sure you will take care of it, and I know you don't understand half of what I'm telling you right now, but I'm sure you will understand it in the future. If you want, I can hold onto it for now, but it will belong to you."

Peaches looked at it, curious, and smiled. She accepted Manny to put it around her neck, but after a few seconds, she gently pulled it off, and handed it back to Manny.

"Whats wrong?" Manny watched, hurt that she didn't accept his gift.

"She wants you to keep it..." Ellie told him in a soft voice. He looked back at Peaches,as she smiled at him and wrapped her trunk around his, giving him a hug.

"Awwwwwwww...!" Sid weeps, falling onto Diego, who pushes him off to the side.


	3. Chapter 3: New Discovery

Chapter 3

Scrat scurried along the ground, attempting to catch a scent of his familiar acorn, or any acorn for that matter. He found a familiar scent, but not the one he was intending on finding. Scrat bumps into the velvet red fur that formed around her foot. He reluctantly looks up, and finds Scratte glaring down at him, with arms crossed, and her nose twitching, out of fury. Scrat pauses for a moment froze, and then his natural instincts kick in. He trys to make a break for it, but Scratte rythmically catches his tail, not moving anything but her arm, and keeping her glare locked in place. Scrat violently trys to break free, running as if on a treadmil. Scratte winds him back in and makes him face her. Scrat reluctantly faces her trying to pull together a smile. Scratte makes no motion, as if she were froze into her furious face. He closes his eyes, waiting for the storm to errupt. Instead, he feels her arms release him. He opens his eyes and he sees that her back is to him, weeping..Scrat ponders trying to make a run for it, but decides to say and comfort her. He halfheartedly and awkwardly walks up to her, nervously resting a paw on her shoulder. She flinches, but does not turn to look at him. She continues to sob. Scrat walks infront of her, forcing her to look up at him. His face brightens, and he takes off. He is back in a instant, with a acorn in his paws. He offers it to her, smiling. Scratte smiles, but pushes away his offering. He looks confused, knowing that Scratte loved acorns almost as much as he did. Scratte begins to sob again, burying her face into her paws. Scrat discovers something different from the last time he had seen her. His smile fades away, as he looked down at her stomach. It had bulged to a enormous size, compared to the last time he had seen her. Scratte looked up at him, a wet face, examining his reaction. He noticed this, and instantly smiled, hoping to conserve a few tears. Scrat followed her into their old home, awaiting their new litter of kits.

"Buck...I'm tired...can't we take a rest...I'm cold...I'm wet...we've made it to the surface...we can go the rest of the way tommorow." Vanessa mopes, sluggishly dragging her feet through the snow, trailing far behind him. They had discovered a ice cave a while ago, many animals and creatures had been frozen into clear ice, almost making it a museum. It was a tight fit, but they found a small hole that lead up to the surface. They managed to get through the ice museum, and were out in barren land, with rigid rocks pointing out of the ground. They were almost as big as trees, compaired to them.

"C'mon Vanessa...the more time we take to get there, the shorter the time it will be.C'mon, mate! Catch up! We're almost there...Vanessa...Vanessa...Hey You can't be that tired, you can atleast resp-" He turns around, only to find rock, and ice. Buck runs back, frantically. He sees a large, but unfamiliar shape walk behind a rock.

"Not today, you don't..." Buck runs, collecting ground as he ran, hearing Vanessa's screams in the distance, get closer as he ran towards the boulder that he had seen the upright figure walk behind. Buck makes a sharp turn around the boulder, jumping blindly onto the figure, knocking it to the ground. He pulls out his knife and presses it to the fleshy bronze colored flesh.

"Let her go, what ever you are! I'll kill you!"

The human was stunned, unsure what to do or say. Vanessa crawled away from his grasp, and stood against the rock.

"Ey, start talking mate. Or the snow will be tinted a crimson red."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing; your talking! I must be in a dream..."

"I'm asking the questions here, mate. Not you. Why did you take Vanessa?"

"Who?"

"Vanessa!" Buck presses his knife closer to the humans neck."Why did you take her?"

"I'm looking for food. We've gotten scarce...My-my name is Suka..."

"I could care less about your name...Where did you come from?"

"My tribe...I went out hunting...I must be loosing my mind!"

"I've already lost mine a long time ago. Don't tempt me."

"Where-did you come from...um..." Suka trailed off

"Buck. And from the dinosaur world, you know, the lower level?"

"Lower level?"

"Blimey mate! Where have you been? Dinosaurs...ever heard of them?"

"Not...really..." Suka examined Buck, and then Vanessa, who was still trembling in the corner as if she were a little girl plugging her ears, waiting for her parents to stop yelling at eachother.

"Where are you two headed off to?"

"Its none of your business...we don't need your help."

"I could point you in the right direction, but please, let me up."

Buck analyzed Suka, shot a quick glance at Vanessa, and then back at Suka. Buck slowly got off of Suka's chest, releasing the pressure on his neck.

"Ok, so where are you headed?"

"Well, the problem is...I'm not so sure. I have some friends up here, but I'm not exactly sure where they are..."

"Well, I don't keep track of many weasels passing through...sorry..." Suka shrugged.

"They weren't weasels..." Buck trailed off.

"Ha, what were they then?" Suka laughed, regaining confidence.

"Three mammoths...a sloth...a sabertooth tiger,two possums-"

"Wait...You said a mammoth, sloth..and a saber?"

"Yea, whats the significance of them?"

"My dad talks about a group like that that had saved me when I was a little kid...Hes not seen them since...it was about 11 years ago. I should show you to my dad, maybe he could help-"

"Vanessa? What do you think?" Buck took her aside, still concious of Suka, but whispering.

"If you think he can lead you to your friends, I think it'll be ok."

"Ok, Suka. We'll come. Don't try anything funny..what ever you are...-"

"You have my word...and for the record, I'm human." Buck and Vanessa followed Suka through the snow, and into even more unfamiliar territory.


	4. Chapter 4: Trust

**Chapter 4- Trust**

Buck and Vanessa trailed off behind Suka as they slowly approached a dim light, and smoke reaching up towards the sky. Suka leads them, leaving footprints in the snow, intentionally taking small steps suitable for them to shadow. Off in the distance, farther than the light, was a black rigid mountain. Half-creek 's Sabers had migrated to a different area, knowing they're numbers would slowly diwindle, having no leader against the humans. They had became the tribe's main source of food and warmth from their fur. Now that the sabers had moved off, the tribe was starving.

"I don't know how you guys stand it up here..." Buck was shivering violently, not used to the cold climate, unlike the confined warmth that the dinosaur world had built up, being closer to the core. Vanessa walked casually next to him, and Suka a few feet or so infront. Vanessa looked over at Buck, his fur on its end, and shaking. Vanessa walks up, throwing her arms around him, hoping to warm him up, oblivious to Buck's becomes completely distracted, forgetting he is or was cold at all. His icey blue eye grow wide, but after, settle, and turn back to his regular warm, navy blue. He awkwardly wraps his arms around her waist, his paws not trembling due to the weather, but uncertainty and nervousness. Vanessa smiles, with her eyes closed, not noticing Buck's small panick attack. They start to syncronize their walking, tracking through the snow, focusing on staying warm. At least, Vanessa is. The only thing they heard was the sound of snow crunching underneath their's and Suka's feet. Buck begins to stop shivering, and becomes perfectly content in his position.

"Warm now?" Vanessa asks, opening her eyes, looking up. He flinches to the abrupt noise, and checks his expression, hoping its not too radical.

"Its better, but I'm sure it'll come back."

"Ok then, I can handle that." Vanessa returns to her position, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Ahem." Buck and Vanessa look up, with Suka staring at them, a little amused. They quickly depart, embarassed.

"We're here...at least...close. Don't talk when we get there, ok? I don't want the tribe to kill you, thinking your cursed...or something."

Buck clears his throat,"Ok..I don't see why, but ok." Vanessa nods her head for Suka.

"Now..I'm gunna have to make this look convincing...I can't just walk in with two weasels walking behind me, they'd kill you...If we could find a stick..."

"A stick?"

"Your gunna have to play dead."

"Nuh uh, no way. I'm not being someones dinner. In that position I'm completely vulnerable. Theres absolutely, no way Vanessa or I am doing that!"

Suka casually walks into the village, with eyes following him. On his shoulders, two weasels dangled from a long stick, tied with Buck's lasso. Suka discreetly glanced at the eyes from underneath his mid-length black hair. He heard whispering, every now and then. Mostly of, "He better share" and, "Where'd he find that?". He walked into his teepee, carefully angling Buck and Vanessa through without hitting anything.

"Come in, son. Close the door, its very chilly out there." Suka's father was sitting by the small fire that smoltered in the middle of the teepee, his hands rubbing together, then back over the fire again.

"Where did you find these?" He looked up, suprised.

"Dad, this is really important.I need to talk to you."

"Talk then son, but after we eat!" His father eased away from the fire, picked up a small knife, and skinning tools. Buck peeked up, trying to look beyond his blind spot.

"No, wait, dad!" Suka sets the weasels on the ground, quickly untying the ropes. They get up, and Buck brushes himself off.

"This brown one...it knows about the...mammoth you always talk about."

" I think the weathers getting to your head, son. How would you know that?"

"They talk!" Suka signals Buck and Vanessa to speak.

"Good afternoon...erm...sir. We need your help. Do you know where we could possibly find the mammoth Suka is talking about? Its kind of important." Vanessa took a step forward, using her hands as she spoke.

"I don't hear anything, Suka."

"What?"

"All I hear is squeaking...sorry."

"Wait..Buck, draw in the ground with your...knife-thing. talk like that."

"You've named him? Now your gunna get attached Suka, you shouldn't have done that, expecially in these times."

"I don't know how to write?" Buck looks up, confused.

"Ugh, ok, tell me what you want to say then.

Buck repeats Vanessa's words, and Suka begins to write them in the ground

"Son, you really expect me to think these guys are intelligent? I mean, really."

Buck shots a look up, takes his knife out of Suka's hand, and begins to copy underneath what Suka had wrote. It was hardly legible, but convincing.

"Ok, you've got me there. What do you guys need?" His father starts to scratch his head. Suka begins to translate through the ground, erasing what was wrote previously.

"_Vanessa needs to get home. Manny, the mammoth that had saved your son, along with the saber, and the sloth, may be able to point us in the right direction. But I do not know where they are. I was hoping you would know."_

"Well, I don't really know where they were headed, but they went southwest from here...I think, the last time I saw them. Anima-er, you guys seem to move around a lot. I could be way off. Its way too far of a trip for our tribe to go."

"Hmm...I can get transportation covered._ Do you know anything else_?" Buck smiles, then translated the last sentence.

"No, sorry. But something I don't get...how can Suka understand you, and I can't?"

"_I don't know, sorry."_ Buck shrugs.

"Dad, do you think its ..somehow..because I was with the herd when I was little, possibly?" Suka looks up.

"I'm still questioning your sanity, son...I don't know. That seems hardly likely...but it may be a possibility."

"How're we going to get there, Buck?" Vanessa whispers.

"I have a plan."

"Well, good luck you two...Suka I'm kind of disappointed in you, but I'm happy you've gotten such a great gift."

"Disappointed...why?"

"I sent you out to hunt. The tribes starving. And you bring me back two talking weasels...at least to you. I'm starting to wonder if your getting dillusional."

"Oh."

The tribe.

"But if you find...the mammoth, tell him I am completely in his debt, and I thank him from all my heart for saving my son."

"Farwell. Human." Buck waves, gathering his knife, and lasso, walking out the door.

"Buck! wait!" Suka runs out, seeing a group of spears pointed directly at Buck, Vanessa, and now Suka,and his father. Buck raises his arms up,surrendering, with a stern face, attempting to protect Vanessa from every angle.

"Blimey." Buck mutters with his arms still up.

"I'm assuming your sharing, Atenaq , if you want to keep your position as the wiseman of the tribe, I advise you to hand over the weasels."

"Kaskae, we're all..friends here...um..." Kesuk, Suka's father, says to the chief of the tribe.

Buck quickly descends a paw to his mouth, and whistles.

"What are you doing? You want to get us killed?"

"No, saved." Buck smiles, not breaking his view on Vanessa. They hear a loud roar off in the distance. The crowd turn their attention to a little grey blur off in the distance.

"Tell them if they don't back away from us, they're all going to be eaten." Buck says, smoothly.

"What?"

"Do it!"

"Back away...if you don't want to be eaten." The blur was much larger now, grey. The roar was growing in volume rapidly. the spears fell to all their sides, and backed off, still leery of the grey figure advancing toward their village. Buck smiled,

"Hello, Rudy."

"Rudy?" Vanessa looked at Buck. The beast advanced onto the village in record time. They decided to create an alliance, after their little fight. It worked both on Buck's advantage, and his. He wasn't to fond of the idea of losing another tooth. Buck unwrapped his lasso, caught it on one of Rudy's scales on his back, and grabbed Vanessa. Arrows flew at Rudy, bouncing off. Rudy flicked up his tail, throwing Buck and Vanessa onto his back. Buck landed on his feet, but he gently and protectively rested Vanessa in place. Buck stood mid-way on Rudy's back while during the whole time, Rudy walking away. Buck found his balance

"Let this be the day, that you remember of a 3 foot tall weasel, being able to tame a 20 foot tall dinosaur!" Buck bows, and takes hold of Rudy's "Reins", as they disappear into the distance.

"Amen.." Suka manages to squeak out.

"We have to follow them. Where ever they are going, I'm sure, what ever you guys were planning, they're headed towards some sort of group of animals. And if its able to maintain _**that thing**_ it will nurish us." Kaskae yells out ot the tribe. They yell back, in agreement.

"No, wait!You don't want to go that way, that thing will kill you!" Suka yells out, hoping they'd understand.

"You've caused enough trouble here Suka. And for that, you are to stay behind, along with your pitiful retired father!"

"Suka, what are you doing?" Kesuk whispers as the tribe retreat to their teepees, gathering every little essential they would need. They would need to take off quick, while the tracks of the monster were still fresh.

"If Buck and Vanessa get to where they are headed, and the tribe follows, theres a good chance they will hunt the mammoth-Manny...and...Sid, I think he called him, down. Dad, Manny saved my life. I can't let the tribe kill him no matter how desperate they are...no desperate how I am, for food."

"...Your right. We'll wait for the tribe to leave. I have a safer and faster route, and only we know where the are headed."

Suka and his father retreat into their home, as they heard the last faded roar in the distance.


	5. Chapter 5: Somethings' wrong

**I'm back! XD here is Chapter 5, I'm sorry I've not posted any more in a LOOONG time, but in my defense, I was caught in the dreaded writers block for a long time, I was working on 'An ATHF story: Renee" and I've been needing to work on my book. So, yeah...I hope you guys like it, and I hope to continue!**

**Chapter 5- **Somethings' wrong...

Scrat scurried along the ground, searching for any food he could possibly find on the ground. Thing was, he had to support more than himself now. Not even just him and Scratte, but a litter! Finding one nut was hard enough! How could he provide for an entire family? As he pondered about his new family, he bumped into an object not too less familiar than himself. He looked up to see a prehistoric-looking group of gliding squirrels looking down at him. The one exactly infront of him seemed to be a larger one, most likely the alpha. He stood up as they cautiously approached him, sniffing and touching him. Getting a little wierded out, he stepped back, and they followed. '_hmmm...'_ he thought. He pointed at his stomach and mouth, signaling he needed food. The group of dark shaggy squirrels looked at eachother and chattered among themselves. After a small 'conference, the alpha signalled to a smaller one to go into the tree. As it obeyed and retreated into the tree, scrat examined the large group. They were all looking at him, the children cautiously clung to their mothers in back, as the males were all in front, examining him, too. The small gliding squirrel returned with a handful of acorns, and Scrat's eyes lit up. He wearily accepted them as she handed them to him. A rushed silence made Scrat uncomfortable. '_Do I just leave?'_ He smiled, and thanked them in a gesture. They smiled back, and one child in the back slipped out of its mother's grasp running to the front of the crowd. Scrat looked down at him, awkwardly smiling and patting him on the head. Scrat warmly smiled as he waved goodbye.

"Hey, Manny..."

"Yeah, Diego?"

"You know...the kid?"

"Pinky? Yeah, I remember..."

"Well...Sid was talking about him before... I wonder how hes doing." Manny looked over to him in a curious expression.

"He'd probably be a lot older now. He probably doesn't remember us at all."

"Probably."

"One thing I'm sure of, I definately don't want any of them anywhere near here."

"Wh-Oh, your thinking about your family...before."

"Yeah..." Manny pressed his eyebrows together as he began to walk away.

"Manny! Manny, Manny Manny!" Sid gasped as he ran up the hill, falling and sliding as he reached Manny, followed by Peaches, the possums, and Elle.

"What is it, Sid?" He replied, slightly agitated.

"We saw...Smoke! Off in the distance!"

"What? Elle, did you see this?"

"Yes, Manny, what could be causing that? We were off by the river when we saw it. We rushed back for you."

"I-...I don't know...Its probably just another group of animals that have discovered how to make a fire. No big deal."

"Manny, what if its the people?" Diego murmured.

"It couldn't be. They're far away. Theres no way they'd come this close."He replied, questionably.

"No, somethings wrong...Manny, I'm not a psychic or anything, don't get me wrong...but...something just seems...different. I don't know what it is. The balance is off, if you know what I mean..."

"Manny, what are we gunna do?" Elle urged as peaches held onto her mother's trunk.

"We'll wait it out. Its far away, anyway, right? Theres no need for concern, and I don't want Peaches to have to worry about anything."

"Are you sure?..." She cautioned.

"Yes, I'm sure. We are going to stay here, and thats final!" He walked away. Elle looked toward his direction in suspicion. '_Whats' his problem?'_

"Crash, Eddie, you guys watch Peaches...I need to have a word with Manny.."

"Ok, hey! Hey! Peaches! Over here, look at me!" Crash said as he waved his hands, catching Peache's attention.

"Manny, whats wrong, is something bothering you?" Elle asked, Manny still looking away from her.

"I just want you and Peaches to be safe and live a normal happy family life..."

"We _are_ living a normal, happy life." Just then, Sid seemed to have gotten on Diego's last nerve, and he began chasing and growling at him in circles around Peaches and the possums as the possums egged Diego on.

"Ok...maybe we aren't normal, but we're happy Manny...thats all that matters..." Manny looked back at her, and she was smiling at him. He smiled back, and looked down.

"I just don't want anything happening to us..."

"Nothing will. I promise. Remember? You're...the _surface's_ biggest thing on Earth." She laughed. Manny glanced up at her and grinned, and followed her back to the rest of the group, still riled up. Manny picked up Sid with his trunk and set him back down away from Diego.

"Cut it out, Diego...we don't want Sid soiling himself..." Diego looked away in disguist.

"Ok, Buck...lets run through this again, because I still think I'm hallucinating...first of all why are we riding on the back of a gigantic dinosaur again?" She rested her paw on her forehead, as if to try to regain sanity. They were wandering through the mountainous snowy terrain with only the sound of Rudy's enormous feet shaking the ground, and the two of them talking.

"Me an' Rudy here called a truce. We'd figure hey, we'd make a great team! Hes enormous..an'...well, I 'lmost killed 'em, I'm his biggest threat, but I'm a bit smaller ya know? I figured I needed transportation, he didn't feel like losin' 'nother tooth." He smiled and looked away, his ears flat, almost troubled at his last statement.

"So...he won't...eat us?" She asked.

"Naw, hes' tamer than a mouse." He laughed. Rudy growled and lifted his back, almost projecting them in the air. Buck once standing, crouched down holding onto one of the elevated scales. Vanessa did the same, only previously sitting.

"Alright, bud, I guess I deserved that, eh? You think that was funny?" Buck said as he was on his hands and knees. He looked behind him at Rudy and his neck turning back toward him. Rudy evily chuckled and smiled, turning back to the trail. He shifted forward, making Buck loose his balance, and kissing Vanessa. He was shocked by his new position, but Vanessa didn't pull back, whether it was because she was off balance, just as shocked as he was, or...she was okay with it. Buck's eyes widened with fear as he pulled back, stood up, and cleared his throat.

"Ehem...uh...I'm, uh...gunna go help Rudy look for the right trail...thing." he mumbled. As he ran up Rudy's neck and stood on his head, Vanessa sat there, still a little dazed but...hurt.'_Theres nothing there, Vanessa...he pulled away too quick.'_ she thought, falling deeper into disappointment. '_If there was, he would have stayed there...'_ She looked down, and pressed her eyebrows together. She turned around to watch from the back, seeing Rudy's tail swish from side to side as he walked.

Buck glanced back at her and sighed, looking forward again._'I'm not suppose to be afraid of anything! Why was I afriad to stay there? I've taken down __**Rudy **__here for god's sake! Why did I have to pull away? Its not like she was...'_ Rudy shot a look up at him, and Buck managed a smile.

"Thanks, mate." he weakly laughed.

**Aww...:/ poor Buck...:(**

**...he was afraid?O.O lol Mannys' in denial...and Scrat actually had some good luck for once...**

**Whats' next? haha ;P**

**Stay tuned for Chapter 6**


	6. Chapter 6: Smoke

**Just for a heads up, guys, I didn't know Suka's real name was Roshan and Kesuk was Runar...sorry for the confusion because I did continue using Suka and Kesuk on here...so, sorry :-\**

Chapter 6- Smoke

"Dad, how do we know we're going the right way?" Suka asked.

"Theres tracks all over here, son...and it looks like theres foilage up there."

"But how do we know its the right herd? Or the right animals?"

"Well, we have you.. and your weasel friends. If we see the monster's tracks, we know we'll be in the right direction. Weasels have a good sense of smell."

"Hey...d'you smell that?" Buck looked down at Rudy, who seemed to have a puzzled look on his face.

"Ah! You wouldn't know...c'mon, lets go that way..." Rudy mumbled, glancing at Vanessa.

"She'dnt know, besides, I don't think I'll be able ta' face 'er fer a while." Rudy made a seemed-to-be smirk, and looked back on the trail, making a faint, almost chuckling sound.

"'ey, now...It ain't my fault! Considerin' how long its been-" Rudy jerked his head up, making Buck tumble down his neck a few feet away from Vanessa. He got up and glanced back at Rudy, who seemed to be enjoying himself happily walking down the trail. Buck sighed, resting his arm behind his head, and finally dropping it as he spoke.

"Hey, uh..Vanessa?..."

"Yeah, Buck?" She asked, turning around.

"Uh, I um...think we're gettin' close."

"Oh..ok." She turned back away from him.

"Do..you want to come sit up front? 'Bit more comfortable up there." He asked, trying to avoid an awkward silence.

"Oh, um..ok." She slowly got up, trying to find balance as Rudy walked. Buck ran up, and waited for her as she attempted to climb up. Rudy raised his head, making it steeper.

"Would you quit it?" Buck yelled quietly as Rudy chuckled to himself. Buck slid down a little ways and grabbed Vanessa's paw, helping her up.

"Wow." Vanessa looked around, seeing a beautiful sunset glistening off the snow and ice. Blotches of oranges and pinks scattered across the sky seeming as if they were painted. Light off the icicles below reflected onto the snow and back into the sky, and as they walked, the reflections seemed to move.

"Ya' don't see this down in the dino world." Buck replied, suprised, scanning the area.

"Its so much more beautiful up here than it is down on the ground!" Vanessa said, examining the reflection off the icicles. Buck glanced over to Vanessa, her crystal blue eyes glowed, and her black fur shined against the sunset background. It seemed to have reflected some of the light, giving it a very faint temporary orange shine. Vanessa looked up, and her eyes glistened against her soft fur. She inhaled the crisp cool air, and closed her eyes.

"Isn't it beautiful?" She said, opening her eyes and looking at him. Buck blinked away his trance, scrambling for words.

"Oh, uh...yea..its..uh, pretty impressive." Rudy chuckled from underneath, and Buck attempted to quickly stomp his good foot on Rudy's head.

"So, uh...once we find the herd...where are you gunna go?" Buck asked, his voice rushed.

"Oh, I live with my brother, Jack. We're twins. Hes probably been freaking out, I need to get back to him..so he knows I'm ok."

"Oh.." Buck replied, his voice discretely fading into disappointment. Buck sighed,

"We better make camp." Rudy stopped, and let them slide off.

"Why must we go through this every single night?" Manny said, chasing peaches around trees as she giggled. Diego stepped back as she ran past him, and she mowed over Sid. The possum brothers hopped on her back as she ran. She tried hiding behind rocks, trees, even snow. She ran past Elle, who snatched her tail, making her come to a dead stop, and the possums flying over the front.

"Owww..." They both moaned.

"You gotta go to bed, hun. Otherwise _both_ you and Daddy are gunna be cranky!" Peaches sighed in disappointment as she dragged her feet to her usual bed. Manny looked over at the smoke, as it seemed to be much closer this night then last. '_if it is humans...we have to warn everyone else. and prepare them.' _ Elle noticed Manny's distance,

"I'll be right back, sweetie." The rest of the gang quietly laid down to sleep. She walked over to Manny, looking over at the smoke.

"If it is humans...we have to tell the others. We have to be ready for them."

"What? You said yourself, its impossible for them to find us."

"I don't know, but what ever it is, its making a campfire. And its moving our way."

"What are we gunna do?"

"You and Peaches are gunna stay far away while me and Diego try to take care of it."

"How many humans exactly do you think you can take down?" She asked in a sarcastic tone, "You guys are gunna need help."

"Yeah, but from who? Who could help us? We don't have a choice." Elle looked down. He was right. Who else could help them? Even if the other animals in the area could try to help they probably wouldn't do any good.'_We need a leader' _she thought.

'_We need Buck.'_

**Sorry it being so short, guys..Next chapter I'll try to make it a little longer...this one was just kind of a bridge between one event and the next...haha**


	7. Chapter 7: New friend & a few old scars

**Alright, guys..I've been trying to make up for lost ground, here..I've been working on these last two chapters for the last few days nonstop. So I HOPE YOU ENJOY THEM! lol**

Chapter 7- A new friend and flashbacks.

"**D**iego, I need you to go and find if what that smoke was last night and the night before were humans." Manny asked, rearranging a log.

"Got it." Diego replied, running off into the distance.

"Crash, Eddie, you guys go try to tell some of the other animals about this. I'll come with you, too. Elle, you stay with Peaches.."

"Ok...c'mon, Peaches...you need lunch, anyway." Peaches squealed happily as the two of them walked off.

"Hey! what about me?" Sid said.

"Oh...uh..I guess you can come with us...just don't wreck anything." Manny sighed as they walked back to the playground, river, and other areas large amounts of animals may be.

"Manny, you really think the humans are back?" Sid asked, looking up at him.

"I'm pretty sure, now. Why?"

"Well, what about Pinky?"

"He won't be like he was before, Sid. Hes' probably a hunter, now." They reached the playground, and various creatures were either playing on the 'equiptment' or watching their kids.

"Att-Attention...Parents!" They all looked up, some aggitated, some puzzled.

"We think we saw humans, they're not too far from here. We saw smoke off in the distance." Most of them gasped, but a few skeptics made their way to the front.

"How do you know?"

"I sent someone to go see what the smoke was. If it was humans, he'll find footprints, and possibly even some of them."

"So what you're saying is..you don't actually know if their coming this way?" The deer convinced most if not all back into skepticism.

"No..but we saw campfire smoke. If it were just a fire, it would still be there. Its not, see?" He pointed with his trunk off into the sky as their eyes followed. Many of the kids walked up to the crowd, retreating to their parents.

"And the night before last, it was farther away. Last night it was noticably closer."

"Well...maybe there wasn't any smoke at all. Maybe your lying just to scare us and our kids!"

"You look up in the sky tonight and see if you see smoke! If you do, come find me, I'm going to be prepared. And if you guys don't want to be lunch, either, I'd advise you to join me." They all mumbled amongst themselves. Children clung to their parents, waiting for a response.

"I'll go." A beaver mother finally said, making her way out of the crowd, standing by Manny, Sid, and the possums.

"I'll go." A long-legged hippo creature walked up. Many more of them quietly walked up, until the deer was the last one.

"Fine!" He shook his head, walking up, too.

**D**iego weaved through trees and brush, sniffing the air as he ran. He stopped, and looked around.

"Manny said they would have been right about here...Where are they?" Diego looked down, seeing a long odd oval shaped footprint. He sniffed it, and his eyes widened.

"They _were_ here!" he said,"I've got to get back and tell them.."Diego began to run back, when off in the distance, he heard a moan. He turned around, his lips curled back, ready to jump on what ever it was off behind the trees. He crouched down, slowly easing over to the tree that seemed to moan. It did it again, making Diego slightly uneasy. He was much closer now, what ever it was behind the trees, it didn't sound human.

At all.

It sounded almost like a growl of some sort. As he stood behind the tree, contemplating what ever it was behind the tree, he tried to smell what kind of animal it was, but the air was blowing wrong. He quickly jumped around the tree, snarling.

"Oh, no..." Diego saw the creature lying against the tree, wounded. A few bloodless cuts criscrossed it's snout, and along its back and side. It weakly snarled back, as Diego stood there in amazement.

When had Sabers traveled this far from Half Peak?

"Wha-what happened? Whats your name?" A deep growl arose from the bottom of its throat, looking away.

"Look, I'm trying to help you, and if you can't tell me your name, or what happened, we're kind of out of luck."

"Tenya. M-my names Tenya. Humans were pushing us out of Half Peak. I was able to scrape by, along with a few others, but now that they've got most of us, and the remaining of us have spread out, the humans are starting to starve. I was able to get away, but...theres a lot of them. It seemed like the whole tribe." She looked up at him in skepticism. She had intense bright green eyes, and a refined and feminine, yet muscular body.

"You're...Diego..aren't you?" Diego blinked,'_How does she know my name?_'

"Uh, yea...how did you know?"

"Lenny. Before the survivors split off he told us about you. Oscar and Zeke didn't survive." Diego tried to think back. Lenny. The smaller one that seemed to have at least some type of common sense other then himself or even Soto.

"Lenny...he told you about me? Where is he?"

"I don't know...he could have been carried off by the tribe, I'm not sure. It was quite a while back when I last seen him."

"Well, I can't leave you here. My herd is-"

"Your herd...you mean..your pack?"

"No...its..a long story. Now c'mon, I've gotta get you back, incase something else gets you."

"I'm a saber. I'm at the top of the foodchain."

"Not at this moment, you aren't." Diego laughed, as he helped her up, and they began to retreat back to their area.

"**A**lright, we found some followers...wheres' Diego?" Manny said, walking back.

"I don't know, I've not seen him come back." Elle replied, as Peaches played with some of the snow.

"Oh, no! The humans got him!" Eddie yelled, as Crash nodded in nervous agreement.

"What are we gunna do, Manny?" Elle asked, looking up at him.

"I-I don't know..."

"Hey, guys!" Diego said as he came up the hill with Tenya close behind him.

"Diego! Look out!" Manny ran toward Tenya, with his head angled toward Tenya. Diego jumped infront of him, guarding her. Manny skidded to a stop, looking at Diego puzzled.

"No, wait! This is Tenya..I think she could help us." Diego said, letting her pass.

"Hi..um..Diego, you live with these?" She looked back at him.

"Yeah.."

"Why haven't you ate them?"

"I'll show you why.." Manny mumbled, tensing.

"No, Manny, wait. What happened to you, Tenya?" Elle asked, cautiously getting up.

"Humans. They're starting to starve...and for what ever reason they've migrated this way. I'm not sure why, but from the looks of it theres an abundent amount of food around here. Once they're here, I doubt they'll move back."

"You can tell us everything." Elle said, helping her over by a tree to lay by.

As Manny, Elle, and the possums listened to Tenya's story, Diego and Sid watched from a distance.

"So! Diego!" Sid elbowed Diego," Lucky you, huh?"

"What?"

"You know what I'm talking about!"

"Thats ridiculous! She was hurt, and I helped her. She had information about the humans, if it were any other animal, I would have done the same."

"Right.." Sid paused, smirking at him, with his arms crossed.

"I would have!" Diego said, his eyes widened.

"Ok...I'm gunna have to tell her." Sid shrugged, walking over to the rest of the herd.

"Sid!" Diego pulled him back, his paw around his neck,"May I remind you how low you are on the foodchain?"

"Ok, ok! Geez..." Diego let him go.

"But if you want some advise just let me know." Sid said, walking over to the rest of the herd. Diego rolled his eyes.

"**D**ad, what all do you remember about...the animals?" Suka asked, as they sat by the fire.

"Not much, son...he and the sloth appeared from nowhere...Its a miracle they found you...and then found me. After you had came home, you had had nightmares.."

"I don't remember.._anything_."

"You were just a baby, Suka...its understandable. Now get some rest. We still have a long journey ahead of us."

"**S**o whats your brother like?" Buck asked as he settled down.

"Well...we've lived together for as long as I could remember...Our parents pretty much abandoned us the first chance they got...so we decided to live ?"

"Jus' kinda different..hearin' bout other weasels."

"Well, we figured there was a better chance of survival in numbers, so we made a home in a tree, and...we've lived there ever since...Well, until now, now that I'm here."

"I see." '_Heck, I've made it on my own pretty well...'_ he thought.

"What about you?" Buck looked up, shivering to her words. He pulled out his knife, and began to whiddle a piece of wood.

"Not much a story to tell...my parents died. Lost 'em to some wolves. I was the only survivor outta my four other siblins'...as far as I know."

"Thats awful!"

"I guess..but I don't 'member too much 'bout any of 'em. After mom an' dad died, I tried livin' up here in the surface world...but it didn't work out too well."

"Why?"

"Ah, too much commotion...and as you've prob'ly noticed, I'm not too good with snow." Vanessa forced a chuckle, smiling at him.

"So...then what?"

"I stumbled on the dino world. I didn't understand anyone down there, and no one never bothered me really unless I bothered them. Ain't that right, Rudy?" Rudy mumbled, turning away from him.

"Anyway, I began to like it down there. I was used to bein' by myself, so I really never felt the need to go back up. There wasn't no snow, niether." Buck laughed with Vanessa.

"You said as far as you know?"

"Yea, I was pretty young...don't actually remember what happened to my brothers an' sisters."

"So theres a possibility they may still be out there?"

"Maybe...but it'd be impossible to find them."

"You never know. Maybe you'll find some of them up here."

"Maybe."

**You didn't hear any hype about a girl Saber in this story, did ya? XP**

**and a little background on Buck and Vanessa...maybe clearing up a few questions for you guys, lol**

**I was a little depressed writing the end of this one...lol and I was a little leery of bringing in a girl saber, Tenya into it...but I guess it helped explain a bit about the story.**

**Please leave a review, or even if you have a question, or whatever...please don't hesitate.**

**Btw, which of the sabers in the first was Lenny and who was Oscar? I thought Lenny was the smaller one, and Oscar was the big fat one...but I didn't know...I was looking all over hell for an answer. haha**

**Please don't smite me if I mixed up the names XD **

**Any who, Lenny was supposed to be a smaller one in this story, not Zeke, the fat one, or Soto, but the smaller one...**

**Sorry if your confused...:-/**


	8. Chapter 8: Reunion

**Chapter 8- Reunion**

"They should be here by tommorow." Manny told everyone, including the animals he had gotten to follow him, "We'll be ready. Everyone knows their positions, right?" murmuring floated among the crowd, listening and waiting for Manny's commands.

"They won't stand a chance! Theres much more of us then there are of them if what Tenya told us is right. We'll run them out of here for good!" Manny yelled, causing an uproar among the crowd.

"Just be careful, everyone. They have these rock sticks, and if they hit you...they do hurt." Tenya warned.

"Right, and-" Manny was cut off by a loud crackling in the near distance.

"Thats them! How'd they get here so quick?" Manny whispered, until they heard a loud roar.

"Thats...not a human..." Diego mumbled nervously. The Earth began to shake and the crowd trembled in fear, screaming. Many took off running, hoping the 'humans' wouldn't catch them. The possums jumped onto Manny's back, as he began to step back. Rudy appeared through the trees, staring into Manny, Diego, and the possums.

"Ah! Its Rudy!" Crash yelled. Rudy lowered his head, as Buck walked down.

"Ah! Its Buck!" Crash yelled again.

"Wait, Buck?" Eddie echoed back.

"Buck!"

"'ello, possums, I knew I...I smelt ya..." Buck wrinkeled his nose, turning away.

"Buck! How did you- why did you-Where have you been? Why is Rudy here? How did you get up here-" Vanessa walked down," And...why do you have a _girl _with you?" They both blabbered on in amazement, keeping their distance from Rudy.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down, guys!" Buck held out his paws, stepping back, "I'll answer all of your questions, but one at a time!"

"Ok.._I'll _ask the first question...Buck..." He continued in a calm tone, "_**Why is Rudy here**__!" _he then yelled.

"A truce, to make a long story short."

"So he won't _eat _us?"

"Nope hes-..." Rudy growled from behind him, "Hes fine."Buck smirked, without looking back at him.

"Whos your friend?" Sid asked.

"I'm Vanessa..I've heard a lot about all of you."

"Hi Vanessa!...Wow, you were riding Rudy?" The possums asked, intently watching her.

"Yeah..I was a little suprised at it, too.."

"Wait, but this doesn't make any sense...why did you come up here?" Diego cut in.

"Alright, to sum it up, I found Vanessa, and I had to bring her back up here to her home. I thought it'd be a good idea while I was up here to come see you guys, and I thought maybe you guys may have been able to point me in the right direction. Any _**more**_ questions?" Buck asked, heaving in air to catch his breath.

"Yeah...um..have you been making campfires at all?" Manny asked.

"No..why?"

"We've been seeing smoke..Buck, we think humans are coming here..." Buck looked over to Vanessa, his eyes wide.

"Oops..."

"Oops! What do you mean, 'Oops'?"

"We may have...possibly...led them here by accident."

"What! How!"

"Well, one of these 'humans' had attacked Vanessa...I was able to talk to him, and he brought me back into his village to talk to his dad...there was something significant about the two of them and you..I don't remember what it was, exactly..." Buck scratched his head.

"Buck, he said Manny saved Suka."

"Oh, thats right! Yeah, uh...apparently you saved a human?" he asked.

"It was Pinky!" Sid tried shaking Manny.

"Humans can't talk?" Diego shook his head.

"He suggested it was 'cause he was with you guys when he was little. Couldn't talk to his father. Suka had to translate it through the ground fer him."

"So how does this tie in with the tribe and what happened to Tenya?" Manny said. Buck looked over to Tenya and smiled.

"Ah! Diego! You finally found yourself a girl? Well, good for you!" Buck smiled throwing his arms up in the air. Diego cleared his throat and made a 'cut it out!...', or 'no, don't say that!' gesture, waving his paw under his throat. Tenya looked at Buck, unsure of how to respond. They all looked over at Buck, his arms still in the air, making an awkward silence.

"...What?"

"Shes not-no...uh.." Diego scrambled for words, trying not to offend Tenya.

"Oooh...whoops." Buck laughed. "_**Awk**_ward!..."Vanessa looked over at him and rolled her eyes.

"Alright, back on subject-Tenya was attacked by a _tribe _of humans. Not just two."

"Well, as we walked off with Rudy, they were all throwing a bunch of stick rock things at us...maybe they followed us because they wanted to eat us and Rudy."

"No..they wanted what they thought _**Rudy **_wanted!" Manny gasped.

"What?"

"They figured what ever could supply something like Rudy could supply them. Animals go where the food is, right? And Tenya said they were starving..they must have followed you guys in search of food!"

"Oh, god, Manny I'm sorry...Look, we'll do what ever we can to help ya guys out."

"What about Pinky?" Sid asked.

"What about him?"

"What-what'd he say?"

"I don't know what they're doing. I think I saw the two of them head off on a different trail then us-and evidently the tribe."

"Ok, so let me get this straight...while you were bringing up Vanessa, Pinky-Suka; attacked Vanessa. You were able to talk to Suka...but not his father. Suka thought that because he was with us when he was little, he could understand animals, now. When you were leaving, the tribe figured that they'd follow Rudy in search of food because they were starving...because they were killing off Tenya's pack, and food got scarce."

"That sounds 'bout right, yeah." Buck replied. Manny sighed,

"Buck, we've got a lot in store for us."

"When are they coming?"

"More than likely, tommorow. Its getting late."

"Ok, guys. Lets make camp."

"Ok, Buck!" The possums said in unison, following him.

"I guess you have your own little posse, don't you?" Vanessa laughed, seeing Buck blushing, trying to hide his face.

"Yeah...uh...guess so.."

Tenya and Vanessa exchanged stories as they sat by the fire and laughed together. Buck and Diego stood off in the dark distance in a trance, baffled.

"So...you and Vanessa..uh?"

"Nope...you and Tenya?.."

"No..I think you figured that out a little earlier." Diego tensed his jaw, breaking his trance and looking over at Buck, his eyes reflecting the light, making them glow. Elle walked up to Tenya and Vanessa smiling with Peaches as she joined them. Buck examined Elle as she hugged Peaches, her eyes beaming with contentment by the fire.

"Ya know...its wierd. Never really felt what a family felt like, before." He smiled, "they look happy."

"Yea...they..they do." Diego responded.

"You two could be, too." Manny said, walking up and taking them both in each of his tusks. He glanced at the both of them who both seemed to be resenting him, and perplexed by his actions. He let Buck and Diego go and walked past them to Elle and the others, with Sid following behind Manny. There was a long pause as the two stood there. Buck shook his head.

"Vanessas' way outta my league." Buck sighed and pressing his eyebrows together, his ears laid back in disappointment, "I helped her up here...an' I'll just have to deal with the fact theres nothin' more ta' that story..." Buck turned around and walked off. Diego watched him, confused. '_Buck isn't himself...Hes not as...confident as I remembered." _Diego frowned, "_I can't say I feel much different about Tenya, though..."_ He laughed at himself, thinking about how pathetic he must have looked if Tenya knew. If she didn't, most of the herd probably did after Buck's little incident.

"C'mon, Peaches...time for bed." Manny yawned as Peaches got up and walked away with him.

"Hey, Elle, do you think Diego likes me?

"Why?" Elle laughed

"Well that little stunt Buck pulled earlier was kind of interesting. I could see Diego in the corner of my eye..." She laughed.

"Well, you should tell him. I'm sure hes a little confused as to what he should do."

"What about you and Buck, Vanessa?" Tenya said, drawing in the snow.

"Theres nothing there." She shrugged, frowning.

"What? Why?" Both Elle and Tenya asked.

"Well..while riding Rudy, he accidently made Buck bump into me. He pulled away too quick."

"Vanessa, Buck has been living by himself his entire life, hes gone insane, I don't think he'd know what to do in a situation like that." Elle responded, smiling. "He was probably scared to death!" Elle said, laughing. Vanessa broke into a smile, and laughed with the other two.

A little ways away, Buck was making himself comfortable in a tree. His foot dangled off the side as he whiddled. He shaved off bits and pieces of the wood, examining it before each shave. Rudy almost made him loose his balance and fall, as he walked up. He nudged Buck, who was still a little uneasy around Rudy's mouth.

"Ey, mate..." Buck said, not looking up from his sculpture. Rudy made a soft mumbling sound, glancing back at the red glow in the distance that was the herd's campfire.

"Nah, I'm comfortable here. Thanks." Rudy gently picked up Buck's sculpture with his teeth as Buck struggled to get it back. Rudy took a step back and showed it to him. It was a weasel, and it wasn't made to be himself. Buck sighed, plopping back down on his tree.

"I know, mate...but theres nothin' I can do." Rudy mumbled and walked off. Buck sat there in silence, thinking about the last few days. He tried to make sense of it all, him and Vanessa...He wondered if after he were able to bring her home, if he'd ever see her again, or maybe if he could pay her a visit. _'No..._' he sighed, _'There'd be no point.' _He shook his head in frustration and stood up.

"Why would Vanessa want to be with me? One eye ain't too attractive, I'm sure."

"Well I did help her..." He responded back, talking to himself.

"So, what!... How does that make any difference?" ...He sighed to himself, and sat back down.

"I don't know..."

**:(... I was a little depressed writing this one, too. lol**

**We're nearing the end, here...sadly.**


	9. Chapter 9: The Battle

**Sorry this one took so long, guys. But I do have an excuse XD Writers block; internet wasn't working, and I had to write two versions of this one. lol**

**Alright, guys...I have two versions of this chapter. One not so graphic and mushy...one more for the kids. I've tried very hard to keep this story rated PG... I've probably failed miserably, lol but anyway, the Climax I think deserved two versions, the first version of Chapter 9 is not supposed to be too graphic...I hope. The second would be more for my older readers (which I'm assuming is more than 80% of you guys. haha...I don't think little kids have been looking up Ice Age stories on Fanfiction. XD) You can read them both, or read one, and skim through the other... how ever you want to do it.**

Chapter 9- The Battle

Buck ran as fast as he could, flying by trees, and leaping over bushes as his background blurred. His panic escalated every step he took as he pulled his knife off his back. He came to a dead stop, looking down at his feet. The scar on his foot seemed to vanish before his eyes as he looked up. 'Vanessa..'

"Buck! Buck? Wake up!" Vanessa shook him as his eyes flew open, looking around held him still, looking into his fearful eyes. They softened as they found hers looking back at him.

"What-what happened?" He asked.

"Nightmare-...you fell out of the tree." Buck looked up at the branch he supposedly slept on the night before. His nerves began to kick back in as the pain pumped through his veins.

"You must have sleep walked, too." Vanessa said, looking at the tree, "You tore the tree apart."

"What?" Buck got up, his backside sore and looked back behind him at the tree. Slices seemed to be covering the entire front of it.

"You could have really hurt yourself."

"Uh..yeah.." Buck examined the tree more closely as the lines in the bark seemed to make more sense. Among the 'gibberish' lines, there seemed to be a picture. It was just a plain rigged circle in the exact center of all the other lines. There weren't any lines inside the circle, but they ran wildy all along the edges of it.

"Thats...erie." Vanessa said, looking at it, too.

"That must have been one bad nightmare..Well, Manny told me to come get you...and I'm kind of glad I did, you may've killed yourself if I hadn't came along." Buck blinked as Vanessa walked away, smiling. What was he running away from in his dream?...Or was it _after _something?" He squinted, thinking it would help him remember. He looked down at his foot, and the scar from where Vanessa had impaled him was still visable. _'Was that supposed to mean something?' _ he thought.'_...was the scar vanishing suppose to symbolize something?' _ Buck looked back at the tree, coming to the realization of how bizarre it really was.

"And what is _this _now?" He said, picking at partially chipped off bark with his knife.

"Was I passed out durin' an exorcism or, what?" Buck shook his head, confused.

"...And what is a bloody exorcism!" He held his head with his paws.

"I've gone mad!" He paused, resting his arms back, chuckling to himself.

"As if thats news..." He laughed, walking back to the campsite.

I just got Buck up, he should be back here pretty soon." Vanessa said as she walked up to Manny.

"Alright..everything is set in place. Diego and Tenya left a bit ago to find out how close they were. They should be back any moment."

"Tenya, does this smell familiar to you?" Diego glanced back at her as she walked up to him.

"Yeah...they shouldn't be too far from here, wow are they close." she said, sniffing the ground.

"Its still very fresh. Not ten minutes old." Tenya crouched down, moving up the hill.

"Can you smell that?"

"What?" Diego responded loudly, as Tenya hushed him and signalled him to stay low.

"We've found them. I can smell the ash on their clothes." They silently moved up the hill as they saw the group of humans walking down the trail. Diego looked over at Tenya, eyes dialated and lips pulled back. A low mumble arose from her throat as she stalked her enemies. The ones that killed more than two thirds of her family and friends. Diego was fascinated by how sharp her instincts were. Then again, she hadn't lived in the safety of a herd or pack. She had had to defend herself on her own, and she was at the top of her game. He knew exactly what kind she was.

Deadly.

"Uh...Tenya?" Diego asked, seeing her eyes soften as she looked at him.

"What?"

"We better go tell the others. Like you said, they're close."

"Right." They ran back to the rest of them, Diego out of breath, while Tenya had hardly broken a sweat.

"You ok, Diego?" She asked in a mild smirk.

"Oh, uh..Yeah! Never better..." He heaved.

"Did you find them? Where are they?" Manny asked as he approached the two.

"About five miles south down the trail. Theres about twenty of them. Thats a fair number, considering it doesn't take very many to take down a-...uh..." Tenya stopped herself, reconsidering finishing the sentence.

"A what?"

"A-..mammoth." Manny sighed, knowing if he were to ask, it'd give him an advantage. On the other hand, it may be his downfall.

"How many?"

"Two or three; maybe with you about four, considering you're a bit larger." Manny's eyebrows pressed together, '_As if I've not had enough fat jokes..." _he sighed and closed his eyes, processing the information.

"But Manny, you also have to remember we have Rudy. Hes ten times your size, and we have more than enough other animals you've gotten by your side. You have Diego here, Buck...uh...well, Sid may be a distraction at least..." She smiled, "And you have me...they don't stand a chance."

"I'm just worried about Elle and Peaches."

"They'll be fine. We found a spot for them where they'll be completely safe, don't worry."

"Where?"

"Its the partially enclosed cave next to the wall of rock. By that small cliff over there?" She looked back at the small cliff, the partially enclosed cave below. "They're able to hide, but they can see all of whats happening out here-..at least...Elle can."

"Are you sure they'll be ok?"

"Yes. I'm sure Manny."

"Wheres Sid?" Diego finally asked.

"I don't know... he left not too long ago.."

Sid plucked the blueberries from the bush, shoving them in his mouth and swallowing.

"I could help protect the herd..." He emphasized each word, "Who saysh a shloth can't fight? I've taken on a dinoshaur!" He smiled to himself, jumping out into the clearing.

"Yeah! Bring it on, humans!" He yelled, hearing a strange echoed yelling. Sid saw the mass of humans running toward him, spears out.

"I wash jusht kidding!" He screamed, running back to the rest of the herd.

"Where'd ya friend go?" Buck asked, walking up to Manny with Rudy and Vanessa.

"Sid? I'm not sure..." Manny heard a distant scream down the trail.

"Found him..."

"The humansh are coming! The humansh are coming!" He yelled, catching Manny's attention.

"Sid! Hold on! Everyone ready?" Manny asked in a rushed voice, looking back at everyone.

"Ready as I'll ever be, mate!" Buck smiled, pulling his knife off his back and throwing it into the caught it in a rhythm as Rudy and the sabers roared

"Yeah!"

"You bet!" The possums echoed. Sid ran behind the crowd, taking off behind a tree. As three humans ran toward Manny, he picked up a rope from the ground and pulled it, revealing a net that encased the three. Buck thrusted himself off Rudy's tail and onto a vine. He pulled his lasso off his shoulder and swang it above his head. The lasso trapped two humans, pulling them together. Buck hopped off the vine as he tied them to the tree.

"Better luck next time, mate!" He smirked, saluting them as he ran off. Diego and Tenya were busy breaking spears or snatching knives out of the human's hands. They were able to run off about six of them. One tribe member was running, when Sid from behind the tree pulled a vine. The man tripped and hit his head on a rock, knocking him out. Rudy lowered his head down to two and huffed a puff of hot air at them through his nose, staring at them with his cold eyes. They dropped their weapons and ran off. Everyone looked around, seeing it was clear.

"We-we did it!" Sid cheered as everyone rejoiced. Vanessa ran back to the cave where Elle and Peaches were.

"Guys, you can come out! We won!"

"Yeah!" Elle yelled happily, getting up.

"C'mon, the guys and Tenya are outside, we're-" She said as she backed out of the cave. Vanessa looked up to see a small boulder falling over top of her.

"Vanessa!" Elle yelled as she ran over to the rock, catching everyone else's attention.

But mostly Buck's.

"Vanessa!" Buck ran up, attempting to pull off the rock off her. Elle pulled it off with her trunk, seeing Vanessa had been caught in a corner. The right angle of the cliff seemed to block her from almost any impact. Vanessa blinked, with her arms guarding her face. She looking up at Buck.

"Are you ok?" He almost pleaded, carefully helping her up.

"Yeah...I-I'm fine, actually." She dusted herself off when she heard another boulder smack the earth.

"Get out of there!" Manny yelled, looking up to see six men from above the cliff pushing and throwing rocks off the side of the cliff. Manny and the others began to run and help, when they heard a moan from Rudy. His muzzle was snapped shut from rope that's end was tangled with a rock. The humans they supposedly had taken care of, had came back or gotten out of their trap. Rudy's eyes narrowed as he backed up to the rest of the herd as the humans advanced on them with their broken spears or knives. Manny's eyes widened as he stood there and everything slowed down, watching the humans advance toward them. He remembered this situation before. He glanced back, seeing Elle protecting Peaches with her trunk. He looked up to the enemy as they seemed to flash from their original forms to stick figures. They flickered back and forth as they came closer and cornered the herd. Manny remembered seeing the cave drawings of him and his family, of what had happened so many years ago. The flashbacks weren't constant, but more just a random glitch every few seconds. He shut his eyes and backed up to Elle, hoping to shield his family as much as possible up until the end.

"Stop! Everyone!" Everyone looked back to see Suka and his father running up the hill.

"That mammoth saved my life! I won't let you hurt him!" Suka ran infront of the herd, holding his arms out to shield as many as he could.

"If you want to kill them, you'll have to go through me! This herd saved my life, if it weren't for them, I'd be dead right now."

"Prove it." Kaskae snarled.

Suka looked back at Manny, who's eyes were glossy and fearful.

"Do you have the necklace?"

"W-what?" Manny studdered.

"The necklace my dad gave you; do you have it?" Manny blinked and quickly pulled out the necklace and cautiously handed it to Suka.

"Look at this!" Suka threw his hand up in the air to show them all." My father gave him this. You think a mammoth was able to make it!" The tribe lowered their spears as he spoke.

"Look, I can talk with them! I know there has to be food here other than meat, they're obviously living here. Just give me a chance."

"You're speaking of madness, Suka, the starvation is getting to your head!" Kaskae yelled, pointing his spear at him.

"Pshhh...I know what madness is, an' believe me, he ain't it." Buck said, rolling his eyes.

"Buck? Oh, look! Buck, give me your knife, I'll translate for you." Buck handed him the knife as he spoke _,' Hello, I'm Buck. This mammoth here's name is Manny, and if you were wondering about that dinosaur over there, thats Rudy.'_

"You're joking Suka! You wrote that!" Suka handed the knife to Buck as he tranced the lettering underneath. It was noticably better than before.

"...Thats just a trick you taught him." Kaskae paused.

"Alright... Manny, pick that boulder up if you can." He said, looking over at him. Manny picked it up, most of the tribe were in doubt of Kaskae anymore.

"You think wild animals would be willing to do that or understand commands? Do you believe me now?"

"Hes right, Kaskae. I didn't believe it either, at first. But he can talk to them." Kesuk smiled, throwing an arm over his son's shoulder as he walked up infront of the crowd. "My sons' got a gift." Kesuk smiled at Kaskae, as he began to doubt himself.

"Ok, we'll listen to your animal friends. But we won't wait around and starve to death."

"You won't, I promise! Manny, can you show them some plants or fruit they could eat here?"

"Why don't ya bring 'em to the dino world, Manny? Theres plenty of fruit an' stuff there!" Buck asked.

"You're right...Alright, follow me-um..Suka!" Suka repeated Manny's words as the tribe followed. Buck began to follow them until he stopped and heard Vanessa's voice behind him.

"Thanks." he turned around to see Vanessa smiling at him.

"Thanks? For what, I didn't help you, Elle did."

"No, not just for that. For everything. For bringing me up here, for helping the humans and the herd...even helping me stand up." She stood closer, looking into his troubled eyes.

"U-um, you don't need to thank me. Ya needed to get back up here an' I helped," Vanessa smirked and rolled her eyes as he blabbered on, " there'd be no reason to just leave a helpless animal to the dino-" Vanessa pulled him in and kissed him. Buck's shock and uncertainty melted away as the wave of relief filled both of them. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist as he closed his eye.

"Oooooooooooo!" Peaches giggled as the two pulled away, seeing everyone looking at them. Buck smiled as he tried to play it off.

"What?" He shrugged comically.

"See, Buck? It all turned out ok!" Diego smirked. Tenya looked over at him and shyly kissed him on the cheek. Diego glanced over to her as she chuckled.

"I guess it all turned out ok for you, too." Tenya smiled.

"Hey! See? Told ya, Diego!" Buck laughed, winking and gesturing toward them with one arm, his other over Vanessa's shoulder.

"Awww!..." Sid broke down, hugging Rudy's leg. He looked up to see Rudy growling at him, as he quickly jumped away.

"Ok! Ok! Sorry!"

"You sure you three have to leave?" Elle asked as Buck and Vanessa climbed on Rudy's back.

"Oh, we're comin' back, Vanessa just has to go see her brother real quick." Buck smiled, "Don't wanna have ta' break up this herd, do we?"

"Well, I guess not! Manny should be here by the time you guys get back, I'm sure."

"Can we come with you, Buck?" Crash asked.

"Yeah, can we?"

"Sorry possums...I'll be right back, I ain't goin' no where." He smiled at them as Rudy walked off.

**In version two theres a little more imagery and description, so you've been warned XD**

Version 2 of Chapter 9- The Battle

Buck ran as fast as he could, flying by trees, and leaping over bushes as his background blurred. His panic escalated every step he took as he pulled his knife off his back. He came to a dead stop, looking down at his feet. The scar on his foot seemed to vanish before his eyes as he looked up. 'Vanessa..'

"Buck! Buck? Wake up!" Vanessa shook him as his eyes flew open, looking around held him still, looking into his fearful eyes. They softened as they found hers looking back at him.

"What-what happened?" He asked.

"Nightmare-...you fell out of the tree." Buck looked up at the branch he supposedly slept on the night before. His nerves began to kick back in as the pain pumped through his veins.

"You must have sleep walked, too." Vanessa said, looking at the tree, "You tore the tree apart."

"What?" Buck got up, his backside sore and looked back behind him at the tree. Criscrossed slices seemed to be covering the entire front of it.

"You could have really hurt yourself."

"Uh..yeah.." Buck examined the tree more closely as the lines in the bark seemed to make more sense. Among the 'gibberish' lines, there seemed to be a picture. There was a long line then two small slits at the top formed a triangle, and two other lines that clung to the back of it. As he continued to look at it, all the lines began to make sense. Each line ended with a tipped triangle point and two other points that ran down the base.

"...arrows?"

"Thats...erie." Vanessa said, looking at it, too.

"That must have been one bad nightmare..Well, Manny told me to come get you...and I'm kind of glad I did, you may've killed yourself if I hadn't came along." Buck blinked as Vanessa walked away, smiling. What was he running away from in his dream?...Or was it _after _something?" He squinted, thinking it would help him remember. He looked down at his foot, and the scar from where Vanessa had impaled him was still visable. _'Was that supposed to mean something?' _ he thought.'_...was the scar vanishing suppose to symbolize something?' _ Buck looked back at the tree, coming to the realization of how bizarre it really was.

"And what is _this _now?" He said, picking at partially chipped off bark with his knife.

"Was I passed out durin' an exorcism or, what?" Buck shook his head, confused.

"...And what is a bloody exorcism!" He held his head with his paws.

"I've gone mad!" He paused, resting his arms back, chuckling to himself.

"As if thats news..." He laughed, walking back to the campsite.

I just got Buck up, he should be back here pretty soon." Vanessa said as she walked up to Manny.

"Alright..everything is set in place. Diego and Tenya left a bit ago to find out how close they were. They should be back any moment."

"Tenya, does this smell familiar to you?" Diego glanced back at her as she walked up to him.

"Yeah...they shouldn't be too far from here, wow are they close." she said, sniffing the ground.

"Its still very fresh. Not ten minutes old." Tenya crouched down, moving up the hill.

"Can you smell that?"

"What?" Diego responded loudly, as Tenya hushed him and signalled him to stay low.

"We've found them. I can smell the ash on their clothes." They silently moved up the hill as they saw the group of humans walking down the trail. Diego looked over at Tenya, eyes dialated and lips pulled back. A low mumble arose from her throat as she stalked her enemies. The ones that killed more than two thirds of her family and friends. Diego was fascinated by how sharp her instincts were. Then again, she hadn't lived in the safety of a herd or pack. She had had to defend herself on her own, and she was at the top of her game. He knew exactly what kind she was.

Deadly.

"Uh...Tenya?" Diego asked, seeing her eyes soften as she looked at him.

"What?"

"We better go tell the others. Like you said, they're close."

"Right." They ran back to the rest of them, Diego out of breath, while Tenya had hardly broken a sweat.

"You ok, Diego?" She asked in a mild smirk.

"Oh, uh..Yeah! Never better..." He heaved.

"Did you find them? Where are they?" Manny asked as he approached the two.

"About five miles south down the trail. Theres about twenty of them. Thats a fair number, considering it doesn't take very many to take down a-...uh..." Tenya stopped herself, reconsidering finishing the sentence.

"A what?"

"A-..mammoth." Manny sighed, knowing if he were to ask, it'd give him an advantage. On the other hand, it may be his downfall.

"How many?"

"Two or three; maybe with you about four, considering you're a bit larger." Manny's eyebrows pressed together, '_As if I've not had enough fat jokes..." _he sighed and closed his eyes, processing the information.

"But Manny, you also have to remember we have Rudy. Hes ten times your size, and we have more than enough other animals you've gotten by your side. You have Diego here, Buck...uh...well, Sid may be a distraction at least..." She smiled, "And you have me...they don't stand a chance."

"I'm just worried about Elle and Peaches."

"They'll be fine. We found a spot for them where they'll be completely safe, don't worry."

"Where?"

"Its the partially enclosed cave next to the wall of rock. By that small cliff over there?" She looked back at the small cliff, the partially enclosed cave below. "They're able to hide, but they can see all of whats happening out here-..at least...Elle can."

"Are you sure they'll be ok?"

"Yes. I'm sure Manny."

"Wheres Sid?" Diego finally asked.

"I don't know... he left not too long ago.."

Sid plucked the blueberries from the bush, shoving them in his mouth and swallowing.

"I could help protect the herd..." He emphasized each word, "Who saysh a shloth can't fight? I've taken on a dinoshaur!" He smiled to himself, jumping out into the clearing.

"Yeah! Bring it on, humans!" He yelled, hearing a strange echoed yelling. Sid saw the mass of humans running toward him, spears out.

"I wash jusht kidding!" He screamed, running back to the rest of the herd.

"Where'd ya friend go?" Buck asked, walking up to Manny with Rudy and Vanessa.

"Sid? I'm not sure..." Manny heard a distant scream down the trail.

"Found him..."

"The humansh are coming! The humansh are coming!" He yelled, catching Manny's attention.

"Sid! Hold on! Everyone ready?" Manny asked in a rushed voice, looking back at everyone.

"Ready as I'll ever be, mate!" Buck smiled, pulling his knife off his back and throwing it into the caught it in a rhythm as Rudy and the sabers roared

"Yeah!"

"You bet!" The possums echoed. Sid ran behind the crowd, taking off behind a tree. As three humans ran toward Manny, he picked up a rope from the ground and pulled it, revealing a net that encased the three. Buck thrusted himself off Rudy's tail and onto a vine. He pulled his lasso off his shoulder and swang it above his head. The lasso trapped two humans, pulling them together. Buck hopped off the vine as he tied them to the tree.

"Better luck next time, mate!" He smirked, saluting them as he ran off. Diego and Tenya were busy breaking spears or snatching knives out of the human's hands. They were able to run off about six of them. One tribe member was running, when Sid from behind the tree pulled a vine. The man tripped and hit his head on a rock, knocking him out. Rudy lowered his head down to two and huffed a puff of hot air at them through his nose, staring at them with his cold eyes. They dropped their weapons and ran off. Everyone looked around, seeing it was clear.

"We-we did it!" Sid cheered as everyone rejoiced. Elle and Peaches walked out of the cave, calling from the distance.

"Hey, guys!" Vanessa turned around to see Elle and Peaches waving. She noticed some strange figures on the top of the cliff, with some round objects. As Elle waved, she heard a loud thud not too far away from her and was shocked to find it was a boulder. She looked up to see six humans throwing and shoving rocks off the cliff.

"Elle! Hold on-" Vanessa yelled, catching the rest of the herd's attention.

"Elle!" Manny called, as the herd ran toward her and Peaches. As Vanessa ran, she heard a loud buzz fly past her.

Followed by an unbearable pain in her side.

She looked down to find that a arrow had grazed her right side, and the humans that they thought they had taken care of, had gotten loose or had came back. She yelled out in pain, holding her side as she dropped to her knees. The herd looked back, noticing Vanessa grabbing at her side, and trying to limp away from the advancing tribe. The herd was torn, do they go and help Vanessa? Or do they help Elle and Peaches? If they decided on Elle, then Vanessa would surely be eaten. If they decided on Vanessa, Elle and Peaches could be crushed.

Buck didn't take time to respond.

He decided for them. They could help Elle, while he helps Vanessa. In any other mind, this would be suicide. An insane act that would result in him turning up on someone else's dinner plate. For Buck, a decision like this was made every day.

"Get _back!_" He yelled, pointing his knife at the crowd as he tried to help Vanessa up. Three men aimed for the weasels with their arrows, when Rudy from behind deflected them with his tail. He roared, trying to intimidate and possibily scare them off, but the bluff failed. A human pulled out a brown rope with a rock tied to the end and threw it. It wrapped around Rudy's muzzle, snapping it shut. The three eased back to the wall with the rest of the herd. Rudy's eyes narrowed, while Buck tried to help Vanessa back up.

Manny's eyes widened, he stood there in amazement as everything slowed down, watching the humans advance toward them. He remembered this situation before. He glanced back, seeing Elle protecting Peaches with her trunk. He looked up to the enemy as they seemed to flash from their original forms to stick figures. They flickered back and forth as they came closer and cornered the herd. Manny remembered seeing the cave drawings of him and his family, of what had happened so many years ago. The flashbacks weren't constant, but more just a random glitch every few seconds. He shut his eyes and backed up to Elle, hoping to shield his family as much as possible up until the end.

"Stop! Everyone!" Everyone looked back to see Suka and his father running up the hill.

"That mammoth saved my life! I won't let you hurt him!" Suka ran infront of the herd, holding his arms out to shield as many as he could.

"If you want to kill them, you'll have to go through me! This herd saved my life, if it weren't for them, I'd be dead right now."

"Prove it." Kaskae snarled.

Suka looked back at Manny, who's eyes were glossy and fearful.

"Do you have the necklace?"

"W-what?" Manny studdered.

"The necklace my dad gave you; do you have it?" Manny blinked and quickly pulled out the necklace and cautiously handed it to Suka.

"Look at this!" Suka threw his hand up in the air to show them all." My father gave him this. You think a mammoth was able to make it!" The tribe lowered their spears as he spoke.

"Look, I can talk with them! I know there has to be food here other than meat, they're obviously living here. Just give me a chance."

"You're speaking of madness, Suka, the starvation is getting to your head!" Kaskae yelled, pointing his spear at him.

"Pshhh...I know what madness is, an' believe me, he ain't it." Buck frowned at the tribe, watching them cautiously as he held Vanessa.

"Buck? Oh, look! Buck, give me your knife, I'll translate for the mammoth." Buck handed him the knife.

"Just tell me what you want to say, Manny, then once I've written it, you try to trace it, ok?"

"Uh...alright?" Manny began to speak_, 'Hello, I'm Manfred and this is my family. We did take care of Suka for a few days...We found him by the waterfall with his mother until she just disappeared...we don't know where she went, unfortunately.'_

"You're joking Suka! You wrote that!" Suka handed the knife to Manny as he tranced the lettering underneath.

"...Thats just a trick you taught him." Kaskae paused.

"Alright, Manny, pick that boulder up if you can." He said, looking over back over to him again. Manny picked it up, most of the tribe were in doubt of Kaskae anymore.

"You think wild animals would be willing to do that or understand commands? Do you believe me now?"

"Hes right, Kaskae. I didn't believe it either, at first. But he can talk to them." Kesuk smiled, throwing an arm over his son's shoulder as he walked up infront of the crowd. "My sons' got a gift." Kesuk smiled at Kaskae, as he began to doubt himself.

"Ok, we'll listen to your animal friends. But we won't wait around and starve to death."

"You won't, I promise! Manny, can you show them some plants or fruit they could eat here?"

"Why don't ya bring 'em to the dino world, Manny? Theres plenty of fruit an' stuff there..." Buck asked.

"You're right...Alright, follow me-um..Suka!" Suka repeated Manny's words as the tribe followed.

"You alright, Vanessa?" Buck asked.

"I think so...I-" Vanessa collapsed, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. Buck turned her over to her side to see her wound dribbling out blood. For an abdominal wound, it was small, but Vanessa being small, not having it taken care of earlier, and it being near a critical area, it bled a lot compared to her body weight. It probably wasn't big enough for stitches, but the entire side of her had been stained with blood, and she needed immediate help.

"Buck! Whats wrong with Vanessa!" Crash gasped.

"Shes' bleeding! I dunno what to do!" Buck panicked, his paws covered in blood, looking at the possums. He froze, thinking back about when his foot was injured. Wasn't there some plants that could help with all this?

"D-do you guys know where some Yarrow is?" Buck looked at them, almost pleading.

"Buck! What happened to Vanessa?" Elle, Diego, and Tenya ran up.

"Do you guys know where Yarrow is?"

"Yarrow?"

"Yea...its-uh...a white, five pedalled flower with a yellow center. Ya guys grow it up here?"

"Um, maybe. Actually, I think I know where some may be." Elle responded. Buck crushed his eyelids together, trying to remember Vanessa's words.

"I also need Chickweed, tea tree oil, and speedwell..."

"Ok." Elle and the sabers ran off, while Buck sat there with Vanessa by the wall of rock. Her body was limp and slightly lighter as he gently pulled her onto his lap. Her breathing was lengthened and delayed, her pulse slow.

"Vanessa? Can you hear me?" He looked back over to her wound. It seemed to have clotted and slowed down the bleeding.

"Don't you die on me!" Elle, Peaches, Tenya, and Diego ran back with the ingredients and supplies that he had asked for.

"How is this supposed to work, Buck?" Diego asked.

"Vanessa stabbed my foot by accident before-...this is how she treated it." He picked up the Yarrow and mushed it up in his hand, carefully dabbing the mush on her side. Buck then smushed the other ingredients together and dabbed them on. Finally, he poured the tea tree oil over the wound, and covered it with a leaf. Buck watched for a moment to see if any blood was seeping through, and it had seemed to have stopped. His ears drooped down and sighed.

"What now..."

"I guess you'll just have to wait until she comes to, Buck." Tenya shrugged, frowning.

"We'll leave you alone." They walked off, leaving the two by themselves. Buck looked at her, hoping for any response at would he do if she died? Go back to her brother who has no idea who he even is, and say 'Hey, Jack..I'm Buck..Sorry I killed your sister.'? Or would he decide to just go back down to the dinosaur world? Jack must've already thought Vanessa was dead if she had been gone so long, and no one in the herd knew about Jack so no one would ask...But that was unethical and immoral. You don't just leave a family member to wonder about what had happened to their loved one.

Expecially if you loved them, too.

He would have to go admit it to Jack. No matter how horrible he would feel, no matter how much pain he would have already endured from Vanessa's passing he would-

"Buck?" Buck blinked and looked down to see Vanessa's crystal blue eyes uncovered. He sighed and smiled in relief.

"Are you-..Ok? What happened?" Vanessa questioned her surroundings, given she was now in his lap.

"Oh, I- Um...Well, uh..."

"My side feels better; what did you do to it?" She asked, trying to turn around and look at it.

"I did what ya did for my foot...I guess it must be helpin'."

"I guess so." Vanessa smirked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"I think I feel ok enough to get up, now."

"Oh, right! Sorry." Buck helped pull her to her feet as she tested her balance. She smiled at him,

"Thank you." He blinked, then smiled back.

"Not a problem. You were bleeding, I had to do something."

"Not just for that. For everything. For bringing me up here, for helping the humans and the herd..." She stood closer, looking into his troubled eyes.

"U-um, you don't need to thank me. Ya needed to get back up here an' I helped," Vanessa smirked and rolled her eyes as he blabbered on, " there'd be no reason to just leave a helpless animal to the dino-" Vanessa pulled him in and pressed her lips against his. Buck's shock and uncertainty melted away as the wave of relief filled both of them. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist as he closed his eye. The empty feeling he had felt his entire life was finally gone. He wasn't alone anymore, and he wasn't about to give that up

"Oooooooooooo!" Peaches giggled as the two pulled away, seeing everyone looking at them. Buck smiled as he tried to play it off.

"What?" He shrugged comically.

"Hes back to his old self.." Elle laughed.

"See, Buck? It all turned out ok!" Diego smirked. Tenya looked over at him and shyly kissed him on the cheek. Diego glanced over to her as she chuckled.

"I guess it all turned out ok for you, too." Tenya smiled.

"Haha, hey, see? Told ya, Diego!" Buck laughed, winking and gesturing toward them with one arm, his other over Vanessa's shoulder.

"Awww!..." Sid broke down, hugging Rudy's leg. He looked up to see Rudy growling at him, as he quickly jumped away.

"Ok! Ok! Sorry!"

"You sure you three have to leave?" Elle asked as Buck and Vanessa climbed on Rudy's back.

"Oh, we're comin' back, Vanessa just has to go see her brother real quick." Buck smiled, "Don't wanna have ta' break up this herd, do we?"

"Well, I guess not! Manny should be here by the time you guys get back, I'm sure."

"Can we come with you, Buck?" Crash asked.

"Yeah, can we?"

"Sorry possums...I'll be right back, I ain't goin' no where." He smiled at them as Rudy walked off.


	10. Chapter 10: First Impressions

**I think the funniest chapter so far :D lol I hope you like it!**

Chapter 10- First Impressions

"So this Jack-he, um..." Buck scratched the back of his head, searching for words. Vanessa looked over and smiled at him, again, her eyes glistening off the golden oranges, pinks, and purples.

"Hes going to love you, Buck. He knows I wouldn't just run off with some-" Buck smirked, holding back a laugh.

"Ok, maybe I did wander off...but he knows I have some form of common sense." she blushed.

"I hope so, love." Even with Vanessa, what would Jack think of him? He knew he wasn't very good with choosing the right words in most circumstances...Riding in on a creature a thousand times his weight and size may be a little intimidating. One question was still eating away at Buck's mind. Even though he figured he and Vanessa were together now..where would they live? He promised the herd he'd come back...but what if Vanessa wanted to stay with Jack still? Or if she wanted to go down to the dino world? He wouldn't care. As long as he didn't go by himself.

"We're here! Look, thats our tree!" He looked up to see a large elm tree with the bottom hollowed out in a form of a door. It seemed to have a small front yard and even what looked like a fence that circled around it. In some ways, Buck was jealous of Vanessa's brother. He was able to live with her for so many years, it almost seemed selfish. But then again, this was Buck, and who knew if his thoughts were ever straight or made any sense?

As Rudy lowered his head to the ground, Vanessa was the first to jump off, followed by Buck, who awkwardly carried himself to the entrance next to Vanessa, unsure of how to act.

"Jack!" She yelled, cupping her paws.

"Vanessa? Is that you?" Jack appeared out of the tree, letting out a deep breath and running to his sister for a hug. He looked a lot like Vanessa, only with deep green eyes and a naturally more pronounced jaw. Compared to Buck and Vanessa, he was pretty tall. If he were human, his height would compare to about 5.8" or 5.9; while Vanessa and Buck would have been about 5.6" or .7." He noticed how different yet similar the two were, in both color and personality. A sense of warmth and family radiated off the two of them

"Where have you been? I've had everyone looking for you! The neighbors said that they saw some smoke a few days ago and I got even more worried. I heard a few rumors about some humans coming back. But then again I heard a story of a huge white monst-" He jumped back when Rudy sniffed the unsuspecting Jack.

"Wha-who-" Vanessa held him from running off in the opposite direction, which seemed harder than it actually was.

"This is Rudy...and he won't eat you..And this is Buck." Buck flashed a look up as he seemed to be waiting to be introduced. Jack froze in Vanessa's grasp, speculated him, looking back and forth between Rudy and Buck.

"Aye, mate...Nice ta meet ya."

"Like..wise.." Jack trailed off. He turned back and whispered to Vanessa.

"Where did they come from?"

"Um...its a funny story, see- uhm..Well below us theres a dinosaur world, hence Rudy here.." Buck glanced up at Rudy as he listened to Vanessa speak. He had a peculiar look on his face, almost doubting Vanessa's story.

"And I fell through. Buck here saved me from the dinos and he was kind enough to help me back up here." Jack's expression softened, yet a hint of skepticism loomed on his face.

"Well, Buck, I don't know much about you, but I am very grateful you saved my sister. Thankyou." Jack approached him and held out his paw. Buck speculated it as he looked up at Jack.

"No probl'm, mate!" Buck replied, sticking out his paw but then putting it back down as if he was almost saluting him. Vanessa laughed. '_has he honestly never heard of a handshake before?_' she thought. Jack couldn't help but laugh even though he was curious as to why his sister's hero didn't have a clue as to what a hand shake was.

"Um...well, Vanessa, we better go call off the search party. I had been staying in the house, they said I should stay here if you were to come back; which you did! And I'm so glad you're home!" A brief silence made Jack question his words.

"Yeah, see..Jack..me and Buck-" His face fell as she spoke. He paused, then let out a short sigh as he looked at Buck.

"Vanessa..." Jack sighed a long sigh unapprovingly before he spoke.

"How far along are you?"

"What!"

"Aye, mate! lil' early fer that ain't it?" Buck's face flushed as he dropped his knife, backing up and holding both his hands up before he bumped into Rudy's foot. Rudy seemed to be enjoying himself, listening to the whole ordeal. He may as well had been watching a show, all he needed was some popcorn.

"Jack! I'd never- I mean I didn't- I mean I should have said-" She studdered as she scrambled for words. She didn't want to offend Buck, but she also didn't want to mislead her brother.

"Erm- What I think yer sisters' tryin' ta tell ya is just we're together." Buck walked back up to Vanessa and nervously rested his arm on her shoulder. It almost felt as if he were meeting Vanessa's father more than her brother.

"Oh, what a relief! For a second I-" Vanessa cleared her throat and glared at him.

"Aye, Jack, I ain't that type a' guy. Ya' see, me bein' alone fer most a' my life, I-" Buck clamped his mouth shut as the rest of the words crashed inside. First thoughts for Buck always had a red flag, expecially when he was nervous. This episode he seemed to be performing only comfirmed it.

"What we mean is, Jack, I don't think all three of us could live in the tree, its pretty crampt as it is. And Buck has some friends not far from here that we could live with."

"Are they a bit like this friend ya got here?" Jack glanced up at Rudy, who playfully growled at him.

"Nah, but they ain't weasels, if that were what you were thinkin' " Vanessa had already climbed over Rudy's snout as Buck held out a hand for Jack to help him up. He reluctantly accepted it, and on the way Vanessa told her brother the entire story...

More or less.

"So...this thing did that to your eye?" Jack asked, getting increasingly nervous. They were sitting on Rudy's round back, watching the reaction of the creatures below as they walked.

"Yeah, mate, but he ain't like that no more. Atleast, he shoudn't be."

"And you're sure you're ok, Vanessa?" Jack asked, looking at her side again. As she had told the story the first time, Jack had nearly fell off as he noticed her wound.

"Yes, Jack. I'm fine...Are you?" She held back a laugh.

"Yeah...by the way, sorry about earlier...um.." Jack said, not sure of how to word it.

"Ah, its ok, mate! Who knows? Ya jus' _may_ be an uncle someday..."Jack looked over at Vanessa, now looking at her to see her response. She gulped and tried to smile at him, but she didn't hide uncertainty very well.

"U-uh, thats assumin' she'd be ok with it, o'course..." He scratched the back of his head as he waited for the silence to break.

"Well then...I bett'r go get Rudy steerin' in the right direction shouldn't I?" He finally said, awkwardly walking up Rudy's neck and plonking atop of his head. Rudy seemed to smile and looked up at him, as a type of mocking mumble arose from his throat.

"Yeah, I know, you-w're right. But whatcha expect? 'Mean, look at 'er!" Rudy turned back to the trail and rolled his eyes.

**Hes' back to his old self... ;)**


	11. Chapter 11: Family

**Last Chapter...X( I've had fun writing this, though! I thank all of my fans who have been patiently waiting for each chapter. I will, though, I think put a 'a year or so later' Chapter, for you guys. I don't want to spoil it; but lets just say Buck and Diego probably don't have any idea about parenting. ;D**

**First version of Chapter 11 is a little more mature then what you'd see in the movies; but not too bad, I don't think. Second version on here with a little more description and mature with Buck and Vanessa...so I recommend the second more than the first, but its your choice! X) **

Chapter 11

"He-hey! Bucks' back!" Crash lifted his head off his paws as he ran to the the gigantic dinosaur that was Rudy.

"Yeah! Buck!" Eddie echoed.

" 'ello, Possums, I'm back, see?" He hopped off and landed infront of the two as Vanessa helped her brother down.

"Awww...you guys brought back a friend!" Elle smiled sweetly as she and the rest of the herd walked up.

"This is Jack, guys, hes' my brother." Vanessa continued as she introduced each of them.

"Nice to meet you all-how did you all come together like this...?"

"Ahh, you all know it all shtarted when-" Manny smacked sid upside the head as he yelped in pain.

"Well, we were wondering if Jack could stay here with us in the herd. Our house is a little crampt; and with all three of us it'd be kind of hard."

"Well all of you are always welcome to stay with us. You too, Tenya." Tenya looked up at Elle and smiled. She really hadn't ever felt the sense of family before, expecially when everyone had separated.

"Well, thank you, Elle. Thats very kinda of you." Vanessa responded.

"Um...Buck...how far are we...did you say from the tree?" Buck smirked, but didn't look behind him at Jack.

"Well; Rudy bein' so big and the steps he takes are so big, we're prob'ly further that I actually anticipated."

"Oh...because...I have no idea where I am right now."

"C'mon, Jack! We'll show you around!" The possums advanced towards the weasel that towered over them and lead him further into their camp and neighborhood. From out of the clearing came Manny and the two humans that had saved him and the rest of the herd.

"Oh, Manny! You're back! Why are Suka and his father here with you?"

"They wanted to come stay for a little while. They'll go back in a bit." Peaches squealed and ran up to Suka who kneeled down as she wrapped her trunk around him. Suka looked at the small mammoth She smiled and hugged her hero as Manny stood next to Elle and smiled. Diego sat next to Manny and Tenya stood up next to him.

"If it weren't for him, none of us would probably be here, right now." Diego murmured.

"Yeah..."

"Good shing we shaved him, huh?" Sid laughed, leaning on Manny. Manny secretly eyed Sid, but his expression softened back into carelessness.

"Guess so." Buck, Vanessa, and Rudy closer over to watch the two. Suka examined the small mammoth.

"Her names' Peaches." Elle said softly.

"Peaches? Well, my names' Suka, Peaches." Peaches smiled, but then pressed her eyebrows together in frustration. She looked down.

"S...su...Suka?" Elle gasped in delight.

"Manny! Her first word!"

"Alright, Peaches!" he said as Peaches ran to her father.

"I can teach 'er a few other words ya guys may not be so proud of." Buck smirked as Vanessa playfully elbowed him. She turned to him.

"Don't you dare..." she murmured softly.

"I've dared a lo' a things in ma life." Buck wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. Peaches giggled in her father's grasp.

"Aww.." Elle mumbled under her breath.

-Meanwhile-

Scrat was rushing around, gathering different necesities as the baby sabertoothed squirrels cried incessently. Scratte was tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for him. Scrat gave each of of the five of them a pacifier carved from a small rounded piece of ice & rock as the handle. One popped out the pacifier and began to scream again. He grabbed the ice-bottle and gave it to the little one. The crying stopped, and he reluctantly looked over to Scratte who had cleared her throat. She was frowning, her arms partially folded with her finger gesturing towards him to come to her. He hesitantly dragged his feet over to her and looked up. She grabbed what seemed to be a stick and hit him atop of his head. She walked off, leaving Scrat dazed and unsure of what he had did wrong. He sighed, looking over at his five small squirrel babies. One of the darker ones that looked a lot like Scratte looked back at him with her pacifier still in her mouth. He smiled until it smacked him in his face, and she started to cry again. Scrat moaned, and looked up miserably.

**Ok...sort of a happy ending for Scrat...kind of...ok maybe not. haha But definately a happy ending for Buck, huh? X) **

**Anyway, heres the alternative ending for this chapter:**

-Alternative Ending-

"Good shing we shaved him, huh?" Sid laughed, leaning on Manny. Manny secretly eyed Sid, but his expression softened back into carelessness.

"Guess so." Buck, Vanessa, and Rudy closer over to watch the two. Suka examined the small mammoth.

"Her names' Peaches." Elle said softly.

"Peaches? Well, my names' Suka, Peaches." Peaches smiled, but then pressed her eyebrows together in frustration. She looked down.

"S...su...Suka?" Elle gasped in delight.

"Manny! Her first word!"

"Alright, Peaches!" he said as Peaches ran to her father.

"I can teach 'er a few other words ya guys may not be so proud of." Buck smirked as Vanessa playfully elbowed him. He chuckled as she turned to him.

"Don't you dare..." she flirtatiously murmured softly as she looked deep into his eye.

"I've dared a lo' a things in ma life, love." Buck grinned, wrapping his arms around her and presssing himself and his lips against hers. She gasped with welcomed surprise against his restraint and warm breath. Her entire body began to shiver as she adjusted to his temperature. She sighed from his warmth, melting away all, if any, hesitant tension from the pleasant pulse almost seemed to sync as their heartbeats pounded against eachother. She reached up and rested her paw on his cheek, her other over his shoulder. Peaches giggled in her father's grasp.

"Aww.." Elle mumbled under her breath. Rudy murmured a nonthreatening growl and took a step forward, making the ground shake and the herd including Vanessa lost their balance. Buck caught her and chuckled.

"Does everythin' haf ta be a challege fer you?" Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Not this." Buck grinned as he returned to his position and newly owned territory. Her smile faded prematurely as his lips covered back over hers. She closed her eyes in contentment in the safety of his arms.

**(I didn't bother adding Scrat and Scratte's ending because I wasn't going to change anything.)**

**Yeah...little different. XD But if you do look at my other story with ATHF you will find the writing is quite similar...well..this was an alternative and I really kinda drew a blank so I used my other story as a guide. Sorry if you've read both and the material wasn't too much different. For those of you who haven't...well...then you just get to read it in the Ice Age version! X)**

**BTW! I am thinking about doing a crossover with this story(Buck & Vanessa), Puss in Boots, & Frylock. **

**Me, I'm not a huge Shrek fan, but if I were to choose my favorite character out of it, it would be Puss in Boots. Hes actually a lot like Buck in a lot of ways, isn't he? X)**

**Frylock comes into play because hes the one with the Time Machiene/ Teleporter thing... He kind of induces the meeting.**

**Tell me what you think of the crossover and PLEASE review the story! X)**


End file.
